Investment consultants, more so than others in institutional investing, have a unique perspective. They hear from and work with investors such as pension plans, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds, as well as the investment managers who help these investors manage their capital. Consultants interact with the investment staff of pensions as well as their boards of trustees, and with the managers who make investments and the placement agents who represent their funds. In other words, they see all sides of the relationship between investors and investment managers. If you want good insight into the state of affairs in infrastructure investing, a consultant is a good person to ask.

While there is broad agreement on the need for significant investment in U.S. infrastructure, the question of how to pay for it is more contentious, with different views of how to privately finance public assets. The United States in fact has a long history of successful private market solutions to infrastructure needs, dating back to the creation of our railway system over 150 years ago. More recently, listed structures such as REITs and MLPs, targeting telecommunications and energy pipelines, have proven successful in answering the challenge of stimulating private investment to address infrastructure needs by offering access to the widest possible pool of capital.

The year is almost over, and i3 has covered a lot of territory with our features and news, including the trends and issues institutional investors have discussed and grappled with during the past 12 months. You may not have had time to read the features and trend pieces you wanted to, but with the holidays coming up, there may be a little extra time to catch up. As an i3 subscriber you are always welcome to this information in our archive section at www.irei.com.